The Phantom of the Castle
by Jadyne Farrow
Summary: Luna Lovegood is acting...strange. Not simply her normal strangeness. This is beyond Luna-Strange, glossy eyes, looking mesmerized, skipping class, and Hermione thinks Luna may be in danger. Now with Luna's best friend Lydia Starlight roped into her plans, the trio, Neville, and Ginny set out to save the two before it has them under total control.
1. Is it the Thestrals?

"Luna!" Ginny yelled to her friend that Saturday evening.

The fourteen-year-old girl with dirty blonde hair and wide, silver eyes only just heard Ginny call her name. Subconsciously she halted as Ginny caught up to her.

"Hey, Luna. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville, and I are all going to Hogsmeade for some butterbeer and we were wondering if you wanted to come along."

Luna gave this some thought, but something seemed to pop in her head that made her shake it.

"Perhaps some other day. I have...other things that need attending to. But thank you so very much for the offer, Ginny."

Without another word, she skipped along as if the conversation had never occurred.

* * *

"She keeps saying that she has other things that need attending to," Ginny ranted as the five of them drank their butterbeer.  
"It's been so long since we went to Hogsmeade together, I've lost track of how many times she's claimed she had other things to do."

"Maybe she really does have other things to do," Ron suggested.

"Like what?" Ginny asked.

"Maybe one of the thestrals came down with an illness," Neville suggested.

"Can thestrals fall ill?" Hermione asked.

"No clue. Luna's the animal expert," Ginny sighed.

"So's Hagrid," Harry added.  
"Maybe we could ask him."

"But can Hagrid see thestrals?" Hermione said.

Silence fell upon the group as they became lost in thought. COULD Hagrid see thestrals?

"Well, better safe than sorry," said Harry.

* * *

"Course I can see 'em," Hagrid answered.  
"They're a damn good lot too; very healthy creatures. They rarely get sick."

"See, that's what we came here to ask you about," Ginny interrupted.  
"Our friend Luna has been skipping out on evening outings we offer and she claims she has other things that need attending to. We were wondering if she was coming down here to care for the thestrals."

Hagrid pondered this for a moment, but ultimately shook his head.

"Nope, she doesn't come 'ere in the evenin'. Comes 'round early mornin' and afternoon usually. She's a kind girl too."

The five looked at each other.

"But if she doesn't come here, then where does she go?"

* * *

The week oozed on slowly as the mystery of Luna's whereabouts puzzled the five, with Neville especially worried. They asked around to see if any other students knew of what she was up to, but no one quite knew. There were theories, of course, but none of them fluid enough to be logical.

"I just don't understand it!" Ginny fumed as they sat in the Gryffindor common room one weekend.  
"Where could Luna be going so frequently?"

"I dunno, but Neville, your behavior is worrying me a bit," Hermione said.  
"Neville? Neville!"

The boy snapped out of thought.

"What?" he asked.

"You've been incredibly dazed and lost since this all started. What's going on?"

"Nothing," he said quickly as his face began to burn a bit red.

"That doesn't look like nothing. You can tell us, Neville."

Neville shrugged lightly.

"Same as you lot. I'm worried about what's going on with Luna."

"We need to develop a way to catch her in the act," Ginny exclaimed.

"In the act of what?"

"Exactly! We won't know what it is unless we catch her ourselves."

"But why should we?" Harry asked.  
"It's not like she's doing anything dangerous."

"She could be. We'll never know unless we take the initiative and find out for ourselves."

* * *

That evening, Luna proceeded along her usual route until she remembered something. Rounding a corner, she hid inside of a nearby nook until there was no sign of anyone nor was there any possibility of anyone seeing her. Luna couldn't take chances. They made her promise to never been seen.

Luna tiptoed lightly towards a part of a wall, faced it, and closed her eyes, lost in thought. As if by divine intervention, the bricks of the wall in one area rearranged themselves and there appeared a dark, elegant, wooden door. Grabbing onto the handle, she looked left and then right. Seeing no sign of anyone, Luna smiled and turned the knob. The door gave a long low groan as Luna stepped inside of the dark, mysterious abode, and closed the door quietly, certain it was only them.

What she neglected to notice, however, was a small redhead making her way to the Great Hall when she saw Luna step inside of the portal. The door began to smooth itself down to look as if it had been painted on and then simply disappeared entirely.

* * *

For a few more days, the redhead went that same way, careful to not be seen and the same thing happened. The door disappeared entirely, as if it had never existed.

"Slow down, Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed after she bolted into the Gryffindor common room panting madly, certain that she was not imagining what she was seeing.  
"Take a deep breath and then tell us."

Ginny closed her eyes and filled herself with air before releasing slowly as one would release the air from a pool toy or a bounce house.

"Luna's been going into the Room of Requirement all these afternoons! But after she goes inside, the door just disappears."

"You mean it's replaced with another?" Ron asked.

"No! The door disappears altogether. It's as if it was never there."

"But that's not possible," Harry pointed out.  
"Even if it's not the same room, the door still stays on the wall."

"It would take very powerful magic to make the door disappear and Luna hasn't even had her O.W.L.s yet," Hermione explained.  
"There's no way she would know magic THAT powerful until at least the end of her N.E.W.T.s."

"But then how could Luna make it simply disappear off of the wall like that?" Neville inquired.

The five of them swirled the thought around in their heads, but it puzzled them a great deal. Luna was intelligent, but it would take years to master such difficult magic. Then someone occurred to Hermione.

"What if it isn't Luna that's making it disappear?"

"But there's never anyone else with her when she goes inside," Ginny pointed out.  
"It seems like she's always wary if anyone else is around."

"But what if there's someone inside the Room that could make it disappear?"

Ginny considered this.

"Good point."

"Is there anything else?"

She began to shake her head when she remembered something that made her wonder if something was wrong with Luna.

"Yes. She also seems...strange recently."

"Luna? Strange?" Ron gasped, his voice oozing with sarcasm.  
"No!"

Hermione glared at him in anger.

"Not like her usual strangeness, but...stranger."

"Stranger how?" Hermione inquired.

"Well," Ginny began, wracking her brain for what she'd seen in Luna.  
"She's drawing music notes and hearts in her notebooks. When she asks to go to the bathroom, she's gone for almost the rest of class. But the strangest thing is that she constantly seems...not all there. Like more so than usual. Like she's...in a trance of some sort."

"You're not suggesting-?" Neville piped up.

"Possibly. She looks almost exactly like how I looked when it happened to me."

"But that's impossible! Harry destroyed the diary, didn't you, Harry?"

"Yeah, I did."

"But what if he's controlling her through another horcrux? Or maybe through something of hers, like a quill or one of her magazines?" Ginny suggested.

"But why would he want to?" Ron asked.  
"What use could Loony-ow! Alright, Hermione!-What use could Luna be to You-Know-Who? She's probably the last person anyone would suspect You-Know-Who would have any use for."

"Well, that might just be it!" Hermione exclaimed as she moved her elbow away from Ron's ribcage.  
"Luna's the last person anyone would expect Voldemort to try and take control of. Maybe he's using her to get information about Harry or Dumbledore."

"Or maybe he's trying to make her a Death Eater," Harry suggested.

"Or maybe he's slowly killing her," Ginny added.

All of a sudden, Neville gasped and fell to the floor with a thud.

"Neville!" Hermione exclaimed as she ran to him.

He groaned in pain as he sat up.

"My head," he moaned.

"We'd better take him to Madame Pomfrey," Ginny urged.

* * *

As the five of them made their way to the Hospital Wing, they approached the hall where the Room of Requirement was located.

"Wait!" Ginny exclaimed.  
"What time is it?"

"Erm, about six o clock," Hermione answered.  
"Why?"

"Get behind the wall," Ginny whispered.

"Why?"

"Shh!"

The five of them darted behind the wall and peeked their heads around the corner slightly. All of a sudden, they saw a girl with blonde hair and a Ravenclaw robe slowly walk towards the wall.

"It's Luna!" Ginny whispered harshly.  
"Stay here and watch."

Ginny peeked out from the corner and casually walked over to Luna.

"Hey Luna!" she greeted her.

But Luna didn't respond. She simply kept on walking slowly. Ginny followed her.

"Luna, it's me. Ginny."

Once again, there was no response. Frustrated, Ginny stood in front of Luna and put her hands on her shoulders.

"Luna!"

"Let go of me," she said dazed and entranced.

Her tone gave Ginny goosebumps. It was her soft, lyrical voice, but something about it was off. It sounded like she had a small yawn stuck in her voice, but it flowed so smoothly.

"Luna, you can stop now."

"Let go of me," she said once again in the exact same tone.

"You're really scaring-"

Ginny and Luna's eyes met. Luna's were her usual blue-grey-silver, except that it seemed to have a slight white veil covering it. Her pupils were much smaller than usual and they seemed to be focusing both everywhere at once and nowhere at all. It gave Ginny the chills.

"He awaits me," she droned.

"Luna, snap out if it!"

"Mustn't be late."

All of a sudden, Luna did something that proved to all five of them that, as if they weren't sure enough already, something was indeed wrong with Luna. She took both of her arms, put them in front of her, and pushed Ginny straight to the ground with a thud. Ginny and the others were so startled that they couldn't move or focus. By the time they came out of their startling paralysis, Luna was gone.


	2. Fortuna Major

"Ginny!" Hermione exclaimed after Luna had gone into the Room of Requirement.  
"Are you alright?"

The other four ran to her with Neville still clutching where he had hit his head.

"I'm fine, I think," Ginny groaned as she sat up.  
"Just a bit bruised and shocked."

"Me too," Hermione agreed.  
"Pushing someone? That's not like Luna even in the slightest. Something must be controlling her."

"But doesn't it take a focused mind less time to be controlled?" Ron pointed out.  
"Luna's mind seems like it's everywhere at once and that should make her incredibly difficult to control."

"That's what worries me the most," Hermione answered.  
"If someone can control Luna, then they can do just about anything. And on top of it, control spells and potions are highly-advanced forms of dark magic. And mind control spells are illegal except under extenuating circumstances."

"I suppose getting Luna to come to the Room of Requirement is not an extenuating circumstance," Harry added.

"Definitely not," Hermione shivered.  
"This could very well be the work of Lord Voldemort or one of his fellow Death Eaters. We need to keep her safe somehow."

"Erm, I don't mean to interrupt," Neville groaned.  
"But my head is still throbbing and I'm not sure if I can walk without slamming into walls.

The four gasped and the trio helped Ginny up.

"We'll take you both," Hermione said.

"I'm alright," Ginny said.

"You should rest in the Hospital Wing, though. Just in case."

"But what about Luna? How are we going to keep her safe?"

Hermione looked at Harry and Ron knowingly.

"Leave her to us."

* * *

Later that night, in fact very late that night, the door reappeared and Luna skipped out of it in a slight trance. She seemed to be in a perpetual state of bliss and beauty. Little did she know that she was being tracked.

She was about halfway down the hall when she bumped into a group of three students, none other than the trio.

"Oh, hello," she greeted them, slightly dazed, but still happily and sweetly.  
"What are you three doing out so late at night?"

"We should be asking you the same question," Hermione said as Harry and Ron grabbed her arms.

"Wait. What are you doing?" she asked slightly puzzled.

"We're taking you to the common room."

"Well, that's very nice of you, but I can get there on my own. I've been in Ravenclaw for about 5 years now."

"Not Ravenclaw's. Gryffindor's."

Luna's smile slowly faded and her face twisted into confusion.

"I...don't understand," she said, pulling against Harry and Ron's grips.  
"I'm not a Gryffindor."

"Luna, we need to keep you safe," Harry said.

"Keep me safe? Why on earth would you need to do that?"

She struggled much more against the grips now.

"Because we have reason to believe that you're in danger," Hermione added.

"I'm not in danger," she replied slightly irritated.  
"I think I would know if I were."

"And besides," Hermione continued as she reached into her pocket.  
"We feel that you're hiding something from us."

Hermione fumbled through her pocket, but didn't find what she was looking for. She leaned over to Ron.

"Did you put the Veritaserum in my pocket like I asked you to?"

"I thought you told Harry to," Ron admitted.

"Damn it!" she grumbled.  
"We're going to have to go to the Gryffindor common room now."

"But I thought you said you were taking me there already," Luna pointed out tilting her head to one side.

This further brought out Hermione's protective side, as Luna looked, and sometimes acted, so innocent and vulnerable that Hermione felt compelled to protect her.

"We were going to do something right here first, but it seems Ronald forgot what we needed for it, so now we have to go back to the common room."

"I'll stay here then," Luna volunteered hastily.

"I think not," Hermione scoffed knowingly  
"C'mon, you three."

* * *

As they approached the Gryffindor common room, Luna dropped into another trance-like state. This was common for her to do, so the three shrugged it off; but unbeknowst to the trio, this was a more calculating state, as if she were planning something.

 _"Fortuna Major,"_ Hermione said and the door swung open to reveal the scarlet and gold common room with its fireplace still barely burning.  
"You two stay here with Luna. I'll go see if perhaps I left it in the girls' dormitory."

"But won't she try to run away?" Harry asked.

"In that state?" Hermione asked, indicating to the entranced Ravenclaw.  
"I think it's unlikely."

And with that, Hermione rushed off and Luna soon dropped back into the real world.

"Harry, Ron," she asked sweetly, but not insincerely.  
"Could you two loosen your grips please? You're hurting me."

This wasn't exactly a lie. Their grips were fairly painful and Luna had a high pain tolerance.

"We just want to make sure you're safe, Luna," Harry pointed out.

"And I am grateful for it," she replied.  
"But you really don't have to be so firm with the grip."

Harry and Ron looked at each other and shrugged. With that they loosened their grips and Luna breathed out a sigh of relief. Suddenly they both felt a slight breeze pass between their hands which was colder than normal. They looked at their hands and noticed that they were covered in sweat. They rubbed their hands on their robes and continued on when Hermione came back down.

"I've got the-" she began when she stopped in her tracks.  
"Okay one, how did I know this would happen? And two, where's Luna?"

The two looked down to find that, instead of Luna's arms, they were now holding each other's hands. They looked up at each other and pulled their hands away in shock.

"She was right here," Ron said.

"Well, she isn't now, is she?"

All of a sudden, the trio heard light footsteps running from the Gryffindor common room. Harry peeked out to see Luna running down the stairs.

"She's not far. Maybe we could still get her back," Harry said.

The three scrambled after her. Luna, soon realizing what was happening, sped up. She may have been dreamy, but when need be, Luna could be quick. Before she knew it, she was back at the Ravenclaw common room. She was in the doorway when she felt someone grab her shoe. She looked to see Hermione grasping tightly onto her right Converse. She attempted to shake her off.

"Let go of me!" she said annoyed.

"We're just trying to protect you, Luna," Hermione said in the struggle.

"I don't need protection," she replied as she shook her foot violently.

Suddenly her right Converse came flying off of her leg. She slipped through the doorway, shutting it tightly, and rushed up to the girls' dormitory.


	3. Lydia Who?

"Damn it!" Hermione exclaimed in frustration as she picked herself up off of the ground.  
"We were so close."

"Nearly," Harry added as he picked up Luna's shoe from the floor.

"I don't understand why Luna won't listen to us about this," Hermione grumbled.  
"I swear, we know when someone is in danger. Doesn't she know that?"

"You know, what if we're wrong? What if Luna's not in any danger?" Ron pondered.

The other two looked at him in bepuzzlement.

"Are you serious?" Hermione scoffed.

"We could be. We've been wrong about things before."

"Yes, Ronald," Hermione added.  
"We have, but those things we're wrong about are potions and spells that we're still learning. We have never been wrong about danger and Luna may be in a ton of it as we speak."

"How do we know? For all we know, she could just be having an off-day."

"For the past two months?" Harry asked in disbelief.  
"I doubt it. Something's very wrong. I feel it."

"As do I," Hermione agreed.  
"I think we should stay outside the Ravenclaw common room and wait until morning to talk to her about it."

"Agreed."

"Alright," Ron sighed as he lied down on the floor.  
"But I'm going to sleep."

* * *

The next morning, the three awoke and stayed outside of the Ravenclaw common room. Luckily it was Saturday and they each took turns sneaking food out of the Great Hall for the three of them. But Luna did not emerge. Neville and Ginny, however, did. Just from the other side.

"Hey," said Ginny as she and Neville, holding an ice pack to his head, climbed the last step of the tower.

"Aren't you supposed to be in the Hospital Wing?" Harry asked concerned.

"Madame Pomfrey gave us some healing salves and an ice pack for Neville," Ginny said.  
"She said we passed the 12-hour monitoring period and we seemed fine to her, so she let us out. Anyway, what have you been up to?"

"We tried to get Luna inside the Gryffindor common room and have her take Veritaserum," Hermione replied.  
"But those two let her slip away. So now we're waiting outside the common room for her to emerge."

"But how?" Neville exclaimed.  
"We just saw her skipping down to the Forbidden Forest to feed the thestrals."

The three shot up in alert.

"T-that's impossible!" exclaimed Hermione.  
"The common room door is the only way in, isn't it?"

"Not in Ravenclaw, I s'pose," Ginny said, shaking her head.  
"Heard they've got a ton of secret passages to take in and out of the common room."

"Of course!"

Hermione slapped her forehead.

"Rowena and Helena both had a fondness for secret rooms and passageways. It makes so much sense. Why didn't I think of it last night? Do all of the Ravenclaws know them?"

"A few of them. Some more than most," Neville said.  
"Haven't heard of a Ravenclaw that knows all of them yet."

"Seems like Luna might," Ron added.  
"She may be off with the fairies, but she's smarter than she looks."

"Yeah," Harry scoffed.  
"Proven especially by last night."

"Oh, don't you start," Hermione snapped bitterly.  
"A trained monkey could've kept ahold of her. Anyway, how do they find the secret passageways?"

"Dunno," Ginny shrugged.  
"I assume they just do. Ravenclaws are generally very perceptive."

The group thought about this for a moment, contemplating the ways a Ravenclaw could discover all of the secret passages in the seven years they were there, or even less. Luna was a very "outside-the-box" thinker, but they couldn't just ask her about the passageways.

"Is there anyone in Ravenclaw she trusts?" Harry spoke up.  
"Maybe she'd tell them about some of the passages."

"Or perhaps she trusts them enough to tell them what she's up to in that room," Hermione added.

The group thought for a little longer when Ginny snapped her fingers.

"There's Lydia."

The other four looked at her in confusion.

"Lydia? Lydia Starlight? She and Luna often talk together. She's just as loony too."

The three of them looked at each other in confusion.

"I've never heard of Lydia Starlight," Harry said.

"Neither have I," Hermione agreed.

"Lydia has that tendency to lurk in the shadows when she wants to," Ginny replied.  
"She's in a few of my classes. Seems like she and Luna are rather close."

"You think she could give us some insight into this?"

"It's worth a try."


	4. Moonlight and Starlight

It took them sometime, but they soon managed to find Lydia Starlight. Conveniently enough, they also found Luna. The two were skipping around in the Forbidden Forest, singing, talking, and taking care of the thestrals. Lydia was fairly pretty, but a bit on the wide side. She was as short as Luna, at just over 5 feet. Her wavy, dark-blonde hair bounced around as she skipped. Her face looked a bit young, though.

"She doesn't seem loony," Ron whispered as the five of them hid in a bush.

"I know she doesn't seem that way," Ginny whispered back.  
"But try having a class with both of them. It's both annoying and amusing."

They had to wait for sometime. But eventually, Luna walked past them to get more meat for the thestrals. As soon as she was gone, the five of them carefully approached Lydia who was quietly singing to herself.

"What a lovely voice," Hermione said in surprise, a bit louder than she had intended.

Lydia stopped and gasped as she looked around.

"It's the wrinkyfints! I saw them!" she exclaimed wildly and in a panic.

"Lydia, it's okay," Ginny assured her.

The girl gasped and turned around to see the five of them.

"Oh, hello, Ginny," she said in a soft, casual voice.  
"Are these your friends?"

"Yes, these are-"

"Harry Potter, your brother Ron, Hermione Granger, and Neville Longbottom."

The four look at the girl in surprise.

"Ginny's told me quite a bit about you four. Perhaps Harry could teach me some parseltongue, right Harry?"

"Er, right," Harry hesitated.  
"Listen, we really need to talk to you about Luna."

"What about Luna?" she asked as she began to carve a stick on a rock.

"Well, for two months, she's been running off to this weird room with a door that disappears," Ginny began.

"And she's often been in a light trance," Hermione added.

"And she pushed Ginny down yesterday when she tried to talk to her about why she was going inside of that room," Neville said.

"And we feel that Voldemort may be behind it," Ron said.

Lydia looked at the five of them inquisitively.

"So?" she asked tilting her head.

Once again, Hermione's protective instincts emerged. She too looked, and probably sometimes acted, as innocent as Luna. Harry's protective instincts also emerged slightly.

"We think you might know something about it," Harry answered.

Lydia backed away slightly as her eyes grew wide.

"I'm sorry. I can't talk about that."

"Aha!" Hermione gasped.  
"So you DO know!"

"Lydia?" a musical voice called out.

The others looked to see Luna returning with some raw meat.

"Is everything alright?"

"You know, I'm not quite sure to be honest," Lydia answered with a slight tremor in her voice.  
"Your friends seem to be putting their noses into business that isn't theirs to sniff."

Luna ran over to the five of them and huddled them down.

"I would like to clarify," Luna whispered slightly harshly.  
"I. Am. Fine. I am not in any danger."

"Luna, you know we've never been wrong about this sort of thing," Hermione snapped.  
"When we say that we may have reason to believe you're in danger, why won't you take that to heart?"

"Because maybe you're wrong this time," Luna argued back a bit more angrily now.  
"And besides, I may look younger than I am, but that is no reason to treat me like a child."

"We're not trying to treat you like a child! We're trying to protect you because we feel you may be in danger!"

"May be!" Luna yelled slightly.  
"Key words: may be. It doesn't mean that I am. I may not be Gryffindors like you five, but that doesn't mean I can't handle my own! Why can't you understand that?"

Suddenly she noticed both Lydia and the thestrals beginning to feel tense and she whispered,

"I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you five to leave. Thestrals are easily frightened by sudden anger and Lydia doesn't deserve to be subjected to this. Please go."

She walked past them and threw the meat to the thestrals who took their time devouring it.

"But Luna-"

"Please. Don't make me raise my voice," Luna said politely, but with a slight edge to it, and without turning to face them.

"C'mon, guys," Harry whispered.  
"Now's not the time to make her mad."

With that the five of them left, but not without leaving Lydia on the ground silently crying. Luna sat down beside the girl, feeling a twinge of guilt. Lydia was such a sweet girl, but yelling made her extremely tense, sometimes to the point where she'd break down. She had come very close to it this time.

"Shh," Luna shushed kindly as she rubbed Lydia's back.  
"It's alright. It's alright. I'm so sorry you had to hear that. I know it makes you anxious. It makes me anxious too."

"I-it's fine," she stammered through tears.  
"B-but when am I going to be able to s-see the angel?"

"Um, tonight, I believe," Luna answered.

Lydia looked up at her friend, her cheeks streaked with tears.

"Luna, I'm scared."

"Of what?" Luna asked as she tilted her head.

"What if he doesn't think my voice is good enough?"

"He will," Luna assured Lydia kindly but sincerely.  
"You have a beautiful voice, Lydia. He'll love your strength in the lyrical soprano songs. The sweet ones from musicals and operas."

Lydia hid her face for a moment to hide her blushing. Her reaction made Luna giggle kindly.

 _She's so adorable sometimes,_ Luna thought.

"But isn't that yours too?" she said after a while, bringing her face back up.

"Of course, but I had to have some extra help."

"So did I."

"Then there you go. We're both equals in singing. And it does no good to compare, dear Lydia, when we're both different people."

"Even if we're very alike?"

"Even if we're very alike. You and I haven't experienced things in the same ways and we most likely never will."

All of a sudden, the bell from the castle tolled six pm and Luna seemed to drop into a slight dream trance. She stood up and helped Lydia to get up and brush off. They fed the rest of the meat to the thestrals before skipping off hand-in-hand towards the castle.

* * *

As predicted, the door appeared in the same place. Luna and Lydia entered in it. Lydia felt both scared and calm inside of the room.

" _Angel, I sense your presence,_ " a voice purred, sending a shiver down Lydia's spine.  
" _But you are not alone. Who is with you?"_

Luna took only a few second to answer.

"My dear angel, this is my best friend; Lydia Starlight. She has been waiting to meet you for quite sometime."

 _"Ahh. Lydia,"_ it purred.  
 _"Like the Lydian mode in music."_

Lydia felt a chill run up her spine, as well as something caressing her cheek.

 _"This one has a strong sense of wonder, innocence, love, and beauty. Very similar to you, angel."_

Lydia tried to keep herself from blushing, but to no avail.

 _"Tell me, my dear Lydia. Do you sing?"_

She nodded cautiously.

"Y-yes, I do."

 _"Excellent. Would you like to_ _share a sample of your talent?"_

Her gaze shifted to her feet.

 _"Come now, my dear. There is no need to be afraid. No harm shall come to you here."_

After a few deep breaths, and some encouraging hand squeezes from Luna, Lydia opened her mouth and sang.

 _"Oh,"_ the voice sighed after she was finished.  
 _"So clear, so sweet, so lyrical, so beautiful. Your voice is a gift from God. You show much promise, my dear Lydia, and I would be more than willing to help you reach the heights that I know you are destined to reach. If, of course, you accept_ _my proposal."_

Lydia gave this some thought.

"Well, I suppose, if it doesn't interfere with classes and whatnot."

"Don't worry," Luna assured her, enchanted.  
"It won't."


	5. Tea Is For Truth

After the confrontation in the Forbidden Forest, the five were more careful about what they said to Luna and how they said it, especially around Lydia. But they began to notice the same in her; Lydia had begun to act just as strangely as Luna, up to going to the Room of Requirement with Luna.

Hermione, especially, was growing more and more concerned as the weeks went on. Her protective instincts had been awakened due to those two. They were like the little sisters Hermione pretended to have when she was younger; innocent, imaginative, sweet but stubborn, and curious.

"I can't take this much longer!" Hermione exclaimed one day as the trio and Neville were studying while Ginny was writing home to her mum.

"The fact that they don't even give us a general idea of where they're going worries me. I mean, what if they're getting involved with drugs or illegal potions?"

"C'mon, Hermione," Ron groaned.

"D'you really think they'd be stupid enough to do that?"

"They could be coerced. Especially Lydia. She just looks so...innocent and sweet and...naive."

The group nodded. Lydia DID look a bit young and had a sort of youthful aura.

"So does Luna, but she's pretty tough," Harry added.

"Plus, if we tried to get involved again, we'd only end up aggravating Luna."

"Maybe," Hermione sighed as she tried to get back to studying.

All of a sudden, an idea popped into her head.

"Maybe we might aggravate Luna," she pointed out as she set the book down on the common room table.

"But what about Lydia?"

"What about her?" Ginny asked as she finished up the paragraph she was writing.

"Well, she doesn't seem as aggressive as Luna. Maybe we could get something from her with a bit of persistence."

"That could work, except there's one problem," Neville pointed out.

"When do she and Luna leave each other's side?"

Hermione huffed in frustration. Neville had a point. Since that night in the forest, Lydia and Luna seemed to stick together constantly. The gears in her mind began to work much more intensely as she came up with a plan.

"We're going to need a distraction," she figured.

"Neville, would you be able to distract Luna?"

Neville perked up at hearing this and nodded intensely.

"Right. Ginny, can you bring Lydia to the Gryffindor common room? If we do it anywhere else, Luna would be able to take her back."

"I can try," Ginny said.

"Good. We'll do it tonight. Once Lydia's inside, leave her to me."

At midnight Lydia and Luna came out of the Room of Requirement, smiling and skipping as if they were two fairies who had just taken several aphrodisiacs. Unbeknownst to them, Neville was hiding just around the corner with Ginny several feet away. They heard the two skipping their way.

"Ready?" Ginny whispered to Neville.

He nodded and Ginny gave a quick nod back in affirmation. As the two came around the corner, Neville pretended to trip and fall.

"Oh hello, Neville," Luna greeted him happily.

"What are you doing down on the floor?"

Neville's mind froze a bit. He couldn't come up with a good reason right off the bat. He tried to wrack his brain, finally finding what he considered to be the stupidest answer, but it was better than no answer.

"I think I dropped a packet of gillyweed somewhere around here," he lied, hoping the two of them wouldn't hear between the lines.

"Oh dear," Luna exclaimed.

"Well, Lydia and I could help you look."

"That's very nice of you," Neville said.

"But it's really only gonna take one other person. Luna, how about you help me?"

Luna looked over at Lydia and the two of them shrugged.

"You can get back to the common room yourself, right?" Luna asked Lydia.

She nodded.

"Or I could just stay here," Lydia added quickly.

"Finding a packet of gillyweed shouldn't take too long."

"It's not as visible in the dark as it is in the daytime," Neville blurted out quickly.

"Oh," Lydia exclaimed.

"Well, in that case, I'll meet you back at the common room, Luna."

Hearing this, Ginny muttered a spell under her breath, one that would make her voice audible only to Lydia.

 _"Lydia..."_ she said in a sing-song voice.

Lydia came to a halt at the sound of this. She was rather curious, even for a Ravenclaw, always asking questions about things that didn't seem to matter. But this seemed to matter to her.

"What was that?" she asked aloud.

"Doesn't sound like any of the Hogwarts ghosts."

Luna looked up in confusion.

"What was what?" she asked Lydia.

"I swear I heard someone calling my name."

Luna shook her head.

"I didn't hear anything. Maybe it's a ghost that chooses who gets to hear them."

She shrugged and began skipping off again. Ginny knew she had to act quickly.

 _"Lydia..."_

There it was again! Lydia stopped once more and turned in the direction of the sound.

 _"Lydia..."_

"I don't like this," Lydia gasped.

"And yet I find it intriguing. Luna, I'll meet you later. I'm gonna find out what it is."

"Okay, but watch out for the nargles and try not to die."

"I can't make any promises about the second bit, but I'll do my best."

She tiptoed over in the direction of the sound. Like a wisp of wind, Ginny rushed up ahead, making sure she wouldn't be seen, as she kept repeating her name. By the time Ginny reached the main stairwell, she knew that Lydia was going to walk right into this trap. They were going to get the answers they had been looking for.

Hermione sat outside of the Gryffindor common room with Harry and Ron as they waited impatiently for Ginny to return.

"Do you really think this will work?" Harry asked.

Hermione nodded with firm assurance.

"Ginny told me she's incredibly curious. It's highly likely she'll investigate."

"But what if she doesn't?" Ron pointed out.

"What if she sees through the trap?"

"It's not a trap, Ronald," Hermione corrected.

"Not if we're trying to do good and save their asses."

"Shh! Listen," Harry interrupted.

"I think I hear her."

The three listened intently and, sure enough, they heard two pairs of footsteps walking towards the common room. Ginny had told them about the auditory isolation spell, so they knew that listening for Ginny's footsteps was more reliable. Ginny came speed walking up the stairs and waited to see Lydia before hiding behind a crawlspace near the common room door. She muttered something to turn off the auditory isolation spell and then gave Hermione a small nod.

"Now!" Hermione whispered loudly.

The trio jumped out and ran towards Lydia who, at the sight of them, tried to run away. But Hermione was prepared.

 _"Stupefy!"_ she said.

Lydia felt her foot twist; she lost balance and fell to the floor with a thud. The pain surged through her and she felt her eyes begin to water.

Suddenly she felt someone grab her right ankle and a sharp burst of pain surged through her. Lydia gave a cry and she began to weep. Carefully the hand let go of her ankle and she felt someone else help her up.

"There, there. It's alright," Hermione consoled her as she helped Lydia up.

Instinctively, she raised her right foot to avoid walking on it and risking further pain. She stared at Hermione with teary, doe-like eyes.

"Please take me to the Ravenclaw common room," she squeaked.

Hermione shook her head.

"Not in your condition. Come on. The Gryffindor common room is much closer."

Lydia sat in the Gryffindor common room with teary eyes and a cup of tea. Her ankle rested on one of the footstools nearby. On the table by the fireplace stood a kettle and some extra cups. Sniffling, she tried to think of other things, but the pain was dominating her brain.

"Are we going to question her yet?" Ginny asked quietly.

Hermione shook her head in annoyance. Ginny had been asking that since Lydia got inside. Even though Hermione wanted to find out what was going on with her and Luna, she was not about to push Lydia to tears again.

"Shouldn't we take her to Madame Pomfrey?" Ron asked.

"I mean, she looks like she suffering."

"But this might be the only chance we have to get some answers from her. Now did you pour the Veritaserum in her tea?"

Ron looked at her, confused, and Hermione glared at him.

"You forgot the Veritaserum **again**?"

"I thought Harry was supposed to do it. I mean, you trusted me with it once before. What'd you expect?"

"I expected that you'd have learned from your mistake, Ronald," she huffed as she walked over to Lydia.

She tried to put on a kind face in spite of Ron's forgetfulness.

"Hey," she said gently.

"How are you?"

Lydia looked at her sadly.

"Not good," she sniffled.

"What brought you near the common room anyways?" Hermione asked, knowingly.

"I don't think you'd believe me, but I thought I heard a ghost calling my name. Next thing I knew I ended up here."

"Really? But why did you run away when you saw Harry, Ron, and I?"

Lydia shrugged.

"Fear, I suppose. The usual 'fight-or-flight' response."

"What are wrinkyfints?" Ron blurted out.

Hermione glared at him and Lydia smiled sadly.

"Wrinkyfints are close relations of wrackspurts," she explained.

"They're invisible creatures that lash out when someone is startled. Very few people have actually seen what they look like, even with spectrespecs, because they come and go so quickly."

Hermione nodded; she was not about to point out the lack of evidence for their existence to someone who was in such pain.

"Are you going to drink your tea?" she asked.

Lydia shrugged.

"I felt bad about being the only one with tea, so I poured you each a cup."

She gestured towards the table. Sitting in the center were four steaming hot cups of chamomile and mint tea.

"You really didn't have to do that," said Harry as he and Ron came over to get a better look.

"Didn't it hurt?" Ginny asked, walking over to sit next to Hermione.

Lydia nodded.

"Very much, but it was worth it. You all were so kind to me when I fell that I thought I should return the favor."

Hermione put her hand on her heart and smile endearingly.

"That's very sweet of you, dear," she told Lydia.

Lydia shied away from her gaze and began to blush a bit. The four grabbed a cup and sat down on the couch. The five of them sat in warm silence as they drank the tea.

Throughout the evening, Lydia's tears began to turn into laughter and the dreary environment turned into a sentimental, albeit sleep-deprived, environment. Once they finished the tea, Hermione's eye fell on a small vial.

 _There's the Veritaserum,_ she thought.

 _Now if I can just put it into Lydia's tea without her noticing._

"Would you like another cup?" Hermione asked her.

Lydia considered this and shrugged.

"If it's not too much trouble," she said handing Hermione her cup.

"Oh no! It's no trouble at all."

Hermione replaced the tea bag and poured in some water. After letting it seep for a bit, she opened the vial and poured a small dose of Veritaserum into it before handing the cup back to Lydia.

Smiling, the sweet girl took a small sip. Ginny gave Hermione a questioning look and was returned with a small nod.

"Lydia," Hermione asked sweetly.

"Is it alright if I ask you something?"

Lydia took a moment to think about this.

"Sure, if you answer one of my questions first," she replied gently.

Hearing this, Hermione shrugged.

"Go for it."

Lydia took a moment to collect her thoughts.

"Why did you really bring me here?"

 _Because you were hurt,_ Hermione wanted to say.

"Because we're trying to get answers out of you," she said instead.

The other three looked at her in shock. Hermione looked back at them in equal expression and cleared her throat.

"No," she stumbled.

"What I meant to say was because we're trying to get answers out of you."

Hermione put her hands over her mouth.

"Harry," Lydia continued casually.

"What does she mean by answers?"

 _I don't know what she means,_ he wanted to say.

"She means answers about what you and Luna are up to when you go to the Room of Requirement each night."

Harry gasped and his eyes widened.

"Sorry," he scrambled.

"That's no-exactly what I meant to say."

There it was again!

 _Damn it, brain!_ Harry thought.

 _What's the matter with you? Why aren't you cooperating with my mouth?_

"Ginny," Lydia said as if they were having a normal conversation.

"Was it you who was calling my name? Were you trying to lure me here?"

 _No, of course not!_ Ginny thought in a panic.

"Yes and yes," she answered.

Ginny gave a shriek of panic as her face turned pale.

"How did you know it would work?"

"Because I know how curious you are. Eek!"

"How come Luna and Neville didn't hear you calling my name?"

Ginny, in a last-ditch attempt at resistance, tried to bite down on her tongue. But something was pushing on her jaw, forcing her to open up. She tried to fight against it, but eventually the pressure became too much to bare.

"I used an auditory isolation spell to make it so only you would hear me!" she blurted out.

Lydia smiled at this and turned to Ron who had been holding his mouth shut for the past two minutes, hoping she wouldn't question him in case the same thing were to happen with him.

"Ron, tell me; why are you all so curious about what Luna and I are up to?"

Suddenly that same pressure Ginny had felt began pressing against Ron. Lydia could tell he was putting up a struggle.

"Why?" she asked more forcefully.

"Because we're worried you two might be in danger!" he confessed.

"Is that why Luna was yelling at you when you came to the Forbidden Forest?"

"Yes!"

Lydia sat back and smirked in triumph. She gave a small giggle knowingly.

"You know, Hermione," she said.

"I'm genuinely surprised you didn't see the vial of Veritaserum lying right out in the open."

Hermione gasped in shock.

"You spiked our tea?" Harry asked.

Lydia nodded.

"How did you-?" Hermione began.

"Don't pretend I didn't hear you use the stunning spell," she answered.

"I figured something was up, but I wanted to hear from you all."

Hermione huffed in anger. That was when she decided enough was enough.

"Alright, that's it," she growled.

"It's time you give **us** answers."

"I'm never going to tell you," Lydia spat.

"Of course you will," Hermione said, matter-of-factly.

"I spiked your second cup with Veritaserum. Now-"

All of a sudden, they heard the common room door open. In walked Neville with a sheepish look on his face.

"Neville?" Hermione asked.

"What's wrong? Why do you look so-?"

He pointed behind him and out popped Luna, holding her wand to his back, with a small smile on her face.

"Hello," she said dreamily, but with a slight edge to it that made Hermione's blood run cold. Her small smile also held a small bit of anger in it.

"I'm so sorry. I really didn't want to have to coerce Neville, but he refused to tell me what happened to Lydia. I was worried she was in danger."

"I'm not in danger, Luna," Lydia admitted, peaking out from the side of the chair she was sitting in.

"But I'm definitely under unnecessary interrogation."

Lydia tried to stand up, but as soon as she put weight on her right foot, the pain came back. She gave a shriek and fell to the floor. Luna gasped and went over to help her up.

"What's wrong?" she asked in genuine concern.

"It's my ankle," Lydia cried quietly.

"I think I may have twisted it when I tried to run away. Hermione used the stunning spell on me and I fell by the stairs."

Luna slowly turned to Hermione with a furious glare. Hermione felt a chill ran through her.

"Why?" Luna asked.

"Why did you feel so inclined as to stun her and put her in actual danger?"

"Because you two may actually be in danger and we want to save you."

"Well, you're not doing a very good job of saving us, mostly because there's no actual danger we need to be saved from."

She turned to address all five of the Gryffindors.

"Listen to me and listen well," she said slowly and calmly, her voice losing much of its dreamy quality.

"What we're doing in the Room of Requirement is nothing you need to be concerned about. There is no danger whatsoever. If you five try to meddle in this business again in any way, we will both go straight to Flitwick about this. Do you understand?"

The five of them nodded in stunned silence. Never had Luna been as frightening as she was when she was angry, mostly because she rarely raised her voice when angered.

"Good," she said, her voice returning to its normal quality.

"Now if you'll excuse us, I think Lydia needs to have her ankle examined. I just hope it isn't broken."

The two Ravenclaws walked out with Lydia holding onto Luna for support while Luna had an arm around Lydia's side to prevent her from falling over. They could hear Lydia's small whimpers and cries of agony.

"I'm so sorry, dear," Luna assured her calmly as they stepped outside of the doorway.

"I know it hurts."

The common room door shut behind them, leaving the five in petrified silence.


End file.
